


Another Lifetime

by Dragomir



Series: Mirror, Mirror [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 07:50:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3760429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragomir/pseuds/Dragomir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In another lifetime, Dorian is tired of war and the Bull left the Qun for love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Lifetime

**Author's Note:**

> There was a [prompt](http://dragonage-kink.livejournal.com/14317.html?thread=53957357#t53957357). Dorian is the burned-out war veteran and Bull fled Par Vollen for an unsanctioned relationship.

In another lifetime, Dorian deserted for love and Bull deserted for peace. In this lifetime, they are not the same. Bull wishes to love and cherish and hold. He does not seek out a particular person, so much as someone to love. In another lifetime, he does not wish to become Tal-Vashoth. In this one, he abandons the Qun without a single backwards glance. Dorian wishes to forget, to drink away the memories of Seheron and his ill-fated decision to join the war. In this life, he heads south to escape the reminders of war. (His efforts are for naught, but it is a different war – there is a clear line between good and evil. It is not Seheron.)

Bull is discovered with his Chargers. He is much the same, although he seeks affection more than he seeks to dominate. In another lifetime, it takes the Iron Bull several long months to coax Dorian into his bed. In this one, it takes less than a week. (It will take several long months to coax Dorian out of his armor, but Bull is patient.)

Dorian is discovered fighting the Venatori, a bottle of ale in one hand and a sword in the other. It is remarkable that he is even upright, but still he fights and still he wins. The Venatori fight for a fanatical cause, but they are no match for the Hero of the Line, the last battle-mage of Seheron’s Fall. They fight for power. He fights because it is the only thing he knows how to do.

The Chargers warn Bull not to give his tender, open heart to the battle-mage. Krem warns him that battle-mages are bred for war. They do not love, they do not smile, they cannot feel anything but pure _hate_. Bull will not listen to Krem, even though his gut says that the ‘Vint is right. He continues to seek out the battle-mage, ensconced in the library where he can pretend he only screams at books. The Qunari is nothing if not determined. He learns to tolerate the brooding for the sake of Dorian’s company. (He does not stop smiling for a week when the ‘Vint thaws enough to recommend a book to him.)

In another lifetime, Bull dominates Dorian and takes him apart to heal him from the memories of his father. In this one, Bull gentles his lover with caresses and cups of tea when the nightmares of Seheron threaten to overwhelm the mage. In this lifetime, Dorian is the one who cannot forget the past. In this one, Bull is the one who yearns for love and will settle for the scraps of affection he can find.

In this lifetime, the letter from Dorian’s father speaks of his concern for a broken young man. (In another, it spoke of his irritation with a runaway child.) The Inquisitor seeks to help Dorian and forces the meeting. Dorian sets his father’s robes alight and leaves the tavern without a backwards glance, face blank and hands clenched around his sword and staff. It takes three weeks for Bull to undo a small bit of the total damage the meeting caused. (In another lifetime, Dorian seeks Bull out so he can be taken apart. In this one, he sobs into the Qunari’s chest and trembles as he tries to forget Seheron and all the things that followed.)

In another lifetime, Varric writes of the forbidden love between a lovesick, affection-starved ‘Vint and the Qunari mercenary. In this one, he writes of a Tal-Vashoth piecing a broken battle-mage back together. It is not a forbidden love, but one of tender glances and gentle touches when no one is looking. (He does not write of wild passion or violence. He writes of tender affection, stolen glances, and shared watches. He writes of a Tal-Vashoth who left his people for love and a Tevinter battle-mage who was broken by his peoples’ war. This story sells like hotcakes.)

In another lifetime, Dorian snaps insults and witty quips as a shield. In another lifetime, Bull speaks of conquering the pampered ‘Vint. In this one, Dorian wields his words as swords more cutting than the one on his back. In this one, Bull speaks of love and caresses his broken ‘Vint’s scarred face with all the devotion he can muster. (They are not perfect, but they smooth each other’s jagged edges.)

In another lifetime, it is Bull who must choose between duty and family. In this one, it is Dorian. He does not hesitate as he calls his lover back. He stares down his old commander and the Inquisitor with a gaze that could slaughter an archdemon and dares them both to challenge his decision. Dorian does not leave Bull’s side for a month, snarling at anyone unfamiliar who dares to come near his lover. (In another lifetime, assassins come after Bull. In this one, the Imperium sends battle-mages to take the Tal-Vashoth, to force Dorian’s return. He sends them back to the Magisterium in pieces, and lets Bull wash the blood from him with a gentleness unsuited to his large frame.)

In another lifetime, Dorian drunkenly confesses that his father tried to use blood magic to change his affection for men to a love of women. In this one, he openly loves men because no one will tell a battle-mage ‘no’. In this lifetime, his slurring confession is that his father tried to take his memories of Seheron’s fall and the aftermath. He weeps that he should have let his father fix him, because he is broken. Bull traces Dorian’s scars and kisses all of them as the battle-mage weeps, telling the ‘Vint that he is not broken. He is loved. He is cherished. Dorian calls him a liar, but curls against Bull all the same, exhaustion forcing him to sleep. (Bull does not complain when Dorian thrashes in his sleep and gives him a black eye.)

In this lifetime, it is Dorian who fears madness. Bull does not say what he fears, but he relaxes when Dorian slips his small hand into the Tal-Vashoth’s larger one and squeezes tightly. The Nightmare demon croons a soft song into Dorian’s ear. Dorian presses himself close to the Iron Bull’s side to reassure himself that he is real, that Bull is real, that he is not falling to madness. (In another lifetime, it is Bull who self-flagellates over his encounter with the Nightmare. In this one, he pulls the bottle away from Dorian and does not let him drink himself into a stupor again.)

In another lifetime, it is Dorian who worries during the last battle. In this one, it is Bull. When Dorian returns with new scars – a jagged one bisecting his face from ear to ear and one healing over a deep cut in the meat of his shoulder – Bull sobs openly and embraces the battle-mage. He does not let go of the smaller man, and does not let the battle-mage out of his sight for longer than a second. He is afraid that if he blinks, the battle-mage will be dead. (In another lifetime, Dorian is the one who shakes when Bull is gone from his sight for longer than a second. He covers it with bravado and cutting words. In this one, he smiles openly and returns Bull’s affection in public.)

Dorian returned to Tevinter in another lifetime, to right the wrongs of his people. In this one, he stays with Bull and watches the Imperium tear itself apart.

In both lifetimes, Dorian and Bull love each other.

**Author's Note:**

> They're not perfect, but they have each other.
> 
> [This](http://www.wall321.com/thumbnails/detail/20120325/mage%20armor%20red%20eyes%20artwork%20staff%201920x1080%20wallpaper_www.wallpaperto.com_79.jpg) is kind of how I picture battle-mage!Dorian. Just add a bottle of ale and he's good to go.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Self-Control](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3806389) by [taispeantas_laethuil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taispeantas_laethuil/pseuds/taispeantas_laethuil)




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